By: Roland Francis Source: Goan Voice UK Daily Newsletter of 30 Sep. 2012 at www.goanvoice.org.uk
It seemed eras ago that Goans all over the world made a really big difference wherever they lived. I am not talking about faithfully working for the British, Portuguese, Indian or Pakistan Governments. That was at the bottom line, a self-service. We can if you wish, admire but cannot stand in awe of it. The Wow Factor is when Goans built entire townships in a new country like Pakistan. When they cornered judgeships, erected country infrastructure through their engineering expertise, founded educational institutions to which the Pakistani elite still flock and when they achieved the stature of a community to whom the ruling class and national newspapers even today take a bow. It is when Goans in Africa came to the attention of Governors, when they fought for African causes that took them to leading positions in rebel national organizations, when their sportsmanship elevated them to the international stage. It was when in India's leading cities, they were in the medical field a class apart, discovering new diseases, devising new medical procedures and operations, becoming admired mayors and taking western and Indian classical music to new heights. A time when Goan Cardinals had the ear of the Indian Prime Minster and Goans were the backbone of the nation's administrative, civil, military and police services and in the highest positions. A time in Goa when Portugal considered Goans able enough to run the entire civil and judicial services of its most prized metropolitan district and for good measure a few others in their other colonies. Their services were so valued that in appreciation it got them Portuguese citizenship valid to this time. Salazar was not fond of easily giving such dispensations on a whim. I do not make an iota of exaggeration about all this and about those eminent and super achievers. If anything, I vastly understate. And then there was none, as the politically incorrect ditty said. Where have they all gone? Have they not sired sons and daughters that took their places in such pre-eminence? Were there no new generations in the community that not only equalled but also excelled in what their predecessors did? Sadly there is not a trace of anything of that sort. It is as if the Goans were strong enough only when their masters whether Brits, Ports or a different class of Indian from that now seen, were stiffening their backs. What other explanation is there? What answers can be given for the Goans in power in Goa who are as corrupt as any in the darkest hinterlands of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh? What apologies can be made for very rich individual Goans who have winged their way into the economic stratosphere without a second glance to their hoi-polloi far behind? In the days that once were, those leading Goans always had their minds in the skies but their heads on the ground. They did so much for the rest of the community, it seemed that they worked to better themselves only so that they could somehow help others. Today's Goan corporate bigwigs have their noses so far up in the air they couldn't smell their own odors. The large community of Goan doctors spread all over the globe have not learnt any lessons from the Baligas, the Borgeses , the D'Costas, the Shirodkars, and their unnamed legions who slaved their way through their professional careers so that others could be less afflicted and they had no thought to burning holes in their own pockets if their patients as a consequence did not have to be financially ruined. Perhaps a lack of their continuing legacy signals the end of the magnificent Goan empire. It was not a kingdom that was given to conquer other lands but more valuably to rapture simpler and less fortunate hearts and souls. Let us salute that breed of Goans before those of us who knew of them are no longer around to sing their praises. Roland Francis (roland.fran...@gmail.com )